mel jacobson on sat 5 mar 05
i have put a picture of the primary cone pack from the last
three firings of my kiln/oxidized firing. cone 12. bottom of my
website/clayart page.
the cones pictured are:
9,10,11.
please note the melted condition of cone 11.
a good experienced potter will learn more from
holding a cone pack in his his/her hand than all the
rhetoric in the world.
so, seeing the pix are the next best thing.
up at 2 a.m. and, i see phil is not yet in bed.
when i fire these temmokus, i just cannot sleep.
i threw a quilt over me about nine p.m. tossed about,
said to hell with it...started the kiln.
my `LOOK` old sweat suit, warm socks, slippers.
(very old, leather slippers i might add.)
david h. i am going for the gas fired, old chinese look.
and, i can say with delight that the quality of the
wood fired pots from a david hendley kiln is rather marvelous.
it is fun to look back at all the iron glazes that i have fired
for now 40 years. sharlene and i took out a set of dishes from
the basement i made for us in 1978. temmoku. gold specks and
orange rims. and, i wonder how many iron reds/temmoku pots
i have fired...thousands. this new study fits right in to what
i have been doing for years. iron/ what a concept. the original
for sure.
nice post from my old friend david woof. it means so much when
folks really love what they are doing. i am so pleased that anne
from chicago inspired some real hard thinking dialog.
i loved looking at pots from electric kilns in atlanta. folks with a
real passion for clay...excited about their work. there was no talk
about gas, salt or wood. they have electric kilns. the pots were
very good. at some time soon they will fire with gas, and they will
combine the electric firing with gas firing. each will have a place.
i like that.
there is this silly thought that runs through the clay world..
`if i only had a different kiln, then i could be famous`, or some
such nonsense. the best kiln in the world is the one you own.
use it, learn to fire it, and make better and better pots from it.
i made over 5 thousand pots in japan before anything was fired.
he just would not put my crap in a kiln. when he first fired my
pots they had uchida stamped in the bottom. now that is a
compliment. i was there for six months before anything with
a mj stamp was fired.
so, back out side.
check the firing. from now on. not a change in the kiln.
damper out, slot plugged with kaowool.
burners on 3/4 power.
when cone 11 looks like the picture on the clayart page, kiln off.
mel
mel jacobson/minnetonka/minnesota/usa
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://www.rid-a-tick.com
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